Tuesday, April 6, 2010

It's too bad that animal parts like the head are usually thrown out. There is so much great meat on the pig's head. So why waste it? You can utilize these odds and ends in so many other ways, like bacon with the jowls, porchetta de testa, coppa de testa, so on and so on. Here we have fried head cheese. I cooked the pig's head for about 14 hours in a low simmering water. Afterwards, I pulled all the meat off the head while the stock reduced more than half way. Then in a separate bowl I bloomed a few sheets of gelatin and added it to the stock. The meat was seasoned with fennel seed, cinnamon, juniper, salt, and pepper. I drizzled some of the gelatinous stock and rolled the meat in plastic wrap to form cylinders. I let the cylinders rest, cut portions, then breaded and fried it. Rich paired these little delights with romesco sauce.